Chapter 55 ~ May, 1997
"Be prepared, I'm going to place my hand on your knee."
Professor Snape's customary glaring mask that he wore in the hallways broke for a moment at Lina's low voice, as she came up beside him in the corridor on his way to dinner. Rolling his eyes, Severus gave a long-suffering kind of sigh. "And I'm supposed to lean over and whisper sweet nothings in your ear I suppose?" he remarked dryly.
Lina chuckled, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Heaven forbid. You may remove my hand, like you're trying to be discreet and then later lean over and pretend to say something suggestive. I'll take care of the rest."
Whatever comeback Severus had was cut off by a voice from down the hallway, screaming, "MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"
Drawing their wands, the two burst through the door into the boy's lavatory. Harry was standing over Draco Malfoy, the blond's hair almost as red as Lina's from the blood that pooled around him. Snape, who seemed to know instinctively what had happened, pushed Harry roughly out of the way. Lina, conditioned to secure an area, quickly disarmed Harry, grabbed up Draco's wand and checked the other bathroom stalls for anyone else. Finally pausing long enough to feel a frisson of shock at the situation, Lina watched Severus kneeling beside the Malfoy boy, murmuring a healing spell over and over to close up the wounds that littered his face and chest. Harry stood there, soaked in blood and water, trembling.
"What happened?" she asked sternly.
"I just…he…I didn't know what it would do," Harry whispered, staring miserably at the blood on his hands.
Snape pulled Draco to his feet. "You need the hospital wing. There may be a certain amount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately we might avoid even that... Come..."
He supported Malfoy across the bathroom, turning at the door to say in a voice of cold fury, "And you, Potter... You wait here with…" Lina shook her head quickly. She'd been lucky that Harry hadn't recognized her thus far, but it wasn't a good idea to spend time alone with him. Some phrase or quirk that she hadn't counted on could give her away. "You wait here for me," Snape finished.
Lina followed him out of the room, moving quickly down the hallway. "Professor…" she began.
"Not now," he snapped. Having deposited Draco with Madame Pomfrey, they turned to make their way back to Harry.
"Sir," Lina tried again. "That was…that was your spell, wasn't it? It was badly done, but that was yours."
"Yes," he muttered irritably, continuing his stiff walk down the hall and not looking at her.
Lina grabbed his arm and steered him into a small alcove. "Well he clearly didn't know how to use it properly, so where did he learn it?" she whispered harshly. "Could he have overheard some other students? So help me, Professor, if you've been teaching this to anyone, I…"
Severus jerked his arm away. "Of course I haven't been teaching that!" he hissed, his dark eyes glittering angrily. "I haven't used that spell on a person in years. Some of my…associates…may know it, but I highly doubt Potter has been anywhere he could have overheard that spell. I'm certain I know where he learned it, and I will take care of it. Trust Potter to wield a spell of precision like it's a bloody mallet," he finished mockingly.
"He's a kid," Lina snapped. "He shouldn't be wielding a spell like that at all."
Severus' shoulders slumped down a little. "You would rather the students use spells that merely damage the spirit, then? A nice little Levicorpus that wounds the psyche but not the body?"
Lina sighed and leaned against the wall. "I'm going to pretend that's a rhetorical question. Clearly my choice to hang Charlie Weasley upside down by his pants in the Great Hall third year wasn't a kind or wise decision."
Snape blinked at her, as though her confession startled him, and then shook his head. "He wasn't the only one on the receiving end of that particular style of attack."
"So isn't that why we're both here? Trying to make amends for a youth focused on self-preservation and revenge?"
Severus stiffened suddenly and glared at her. "Is this another special kind of manipulation to encourage me to confide in you and make this farce more realistic? You did quite well with that drunken harlot routine, but I will not be made a fool of again."
Lina raised her eyebrows. "I was hardly trying to make a fool of you. I was merely attempting, albeit artificially, to dissolve this barrier of formality that you insist on keeping between us. Whether you like it or not, I'm one of the few people in this world who happens to respect and sort of like the person you truly are, and I'm in this with you to the bitter end."
She turned abruptly and walked away, red hair swishing behind her in a way that made Severus' stomach twist painfully. Gritting his teeth, he moved down the opposite corridor to go deal with Potter.
Isabel groaned as she flopped down on the drawing room sofa. "I've got muscles that ache that I didn't even know I had," she muttered, her face buried in a pillow.
"I'm going to be too stiff to make it to the shower by the time it's my turn," agreed Daisy, sinking down tiredly on the other sofa.
"We did better today though," said Joshua, sprawled across the floor, his arm over his eyes. "Xavier didn't shout nearly so much."
"Ugh, why did he ever mention we needed more endurance training?" came Isabel's muffled voice from the pillow. "Stupid Marines."
"Izzy, you're all sweaty. Get off that pillow," said Catherine, from floor beside her. "At least you didn't have to run extra laps through that obstacle course. My arms and legs feel like rubber."
"He probably just did that so he could watch you run," joked Gareth, smirking at her.
"Oh, please," said Catherine, elbowing him. "I was transformed, splattered with mud, and panting like crazy."
"Doesn't mean he didn't like it," offered Joshua.
The others laughed, and Catherine rolled her eyes. "How about we discuss Gareth getting hit with that leg-locker curse, falling flat on his back, and Joshua tripping over him?"
"I'll admit, not my finest moment," grinned Gareth good-naturedly. "I get distracted making sure Izzy doesn't get hexed."
"Hey!" came the muffled protest. "I'm doing better."
"How did it go writing that letter to your sister?" Joshua asked Daisy, nudging her with his foot.
Daisy shrugged. "I wrote it, but I'm not sure about sending it. I think I said too much for the first letter. I mean, not about us or being a werewolf or anything, but about how our parents gave me up, and I grew up in America and I wanted to introduce myself."
"Why would that be too much for the first letter?" asked Gareth, looking puzzled.
"Well, you know how I am…it's probably sort of rambling. And it seems like, well that Pansy maybe isn't a particularly kind person. So she might not take it…well."
Joshua nudged her again. "You just be you, don't worry about the rest."
"I'll read over it if you want," offered Gareth. "I'm getting lots of practice writing letters that say a lot without really saying anything important. Papá says stockholders and boards require those sort of letters at least once or twice a quarter," he added with a chuckle.
"Did you hear Artemis and Remus talking about changing up the spells next week?" asked Catherine. "She was saying we needed practice fighting darker stuff and pushing through any injuries."
"Whew, I did," said Gareth, shaking his head. "Remus gave one of those tired little sighs he does sometimes, and asked if she thought maybe they were pushing us too hard. She got really quiet and said we wouldn't be here if it weren't for her, and she owed it to us to make sure we were as strong and prepared as we possibly could be."
They all silently pondered that for a moment, and then Catherine said softly, "Anyone else miss the days when our biggest problem was deciding how to divide up chores fairly?"
"We should all get tattoos!" Isabel said, sitting up suddenly.
Catherine raised her eyebrows at the sudden change in topic. "Why?"
"It would be good for morale. The Howling Commandos need a symbol, like a…like a military patch. You know, Xavier's got one on his old jacket that says what his battalion was or whatever. It's got like an eagle on it. We can get…I don't know…something."
"Wolves howling at the moon?" suggested Gareth wryly. "No thanks."
"You can get like a weapon or something more manly if you have to," huffed Isabel in exasperation.
"I thought we were the weapons," said Joshua.
Catherine sighed, a little frustrated. "I'm having a hard time with that, honestly…doesn't that make us just like the Death Eaters? How is what we're doing any different than what they tried to make us do in the first place?"
"Come on, Cat!" said Gareth. "Besides the obvious fact that we're all adults and not forcing children to murder people that may or may not have done anything wrong? Sometimes evil has to be fought with violence. It's not like you can ask them to have a polite debate to try and change their minds about blood status. I figure they became animals the moment they stopped treating other humans with dignity. I'm simply meeting them on their own level."
"Maybe, but I'm not sure I even want to be considered a weapon of…of right."
"They are struck down because of their disobedience, and to this doom they were appointed," Daisy whispered softly, her head tilted to the side, and her face scrunched up in thought as she listened to the wolves around her. "When we come against them they will have had every opportunity to turn away from their path of destruction."
"And what about the ones simply caught up in their path?" whispered Catherine.
Daisy turned and looked at her sadly. "We're all caught up in a…sort of a great rebellion. That's where the enemies come from. They fight against what is good and right, and sometimes evil has consequences for the innocent. "
"Then we have to do our part. Enlisted or drafted, we're all in this together," said Isabel firmly. "And the five of us are getting tattoos. We can ask Sirius who he uses. It's probably someone local."
Gareth laughed and tugged lightly on her ponytail. "Izzy…Sirius has prison tattoos. He didn't visit the shop around the corner."
Sirius tugged the window open, letting in a rush of fresh air. He inhaled deeply, running a hand tiredly through his hair. Slumping down into the chair in his studio, he stared at the portrait of James and Lily and Harry. Lily held up Harry's hand to give a little wave, and James leaned against the frame, as though settling in for a long talk. "I'm not sure I'm making a good job of this godfather routine," he said to James guiltily. "Minnie sent me a letter this morning. Harry got into a fight and used some sort of dark curse against Lucius Malfoy's son. I don't blame him for fighting of course — we're pretty sure Draco's a Death Eater or at least well on his way to being one. But…well, Harry apparently used Sectumsempra. Snape's specialty, you remember." James's eyes widened and he shook his head sadly.
"Yeah, it's a vicious curse," Sirius went on. "Now I'm just wondering…what should I say to Harry about it? Should I say something? Should I wait for him to tell me about it? You know, it's such a little thing that happened in light of all the other incidents. Really, Lily, you'd be absolutely furious at what Harry's had to deal with." Lily cuddled Harry a little tighter, her lips pressed into a thin, disapproving line. "But…well, we don't want him to get a taste for using those dark spells, do we? They might be brutally effective, but…he is only sixteen. It really seems like a sort of dad moment. But…you're not here. There's just me. And there's Remus, but Harry seems a little closed off around him. Moony's own fault, of course. He had a whole year to talk to him about us, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Said it would have been selfish on his part and only reminded Harry of what he didn't have. Rubbish. Moony'd spent too many years alone, and you know what that does to him. He was always worse at the start of each new term, too many days left to his own thoughts without us to pull him out. He's better now, but we've only got Harry part of each holiday, and that's not a lot of time to strengthen their relationship.
"Anyway," Sirius said, shaking his head at his trailing thoughts, "getting back to the incident with Draco…" A swooshing sound interrupted him as a large snowy owl came in through the window and landed gracefully on his knee, letting out a little screech.
"Well, hello there, Hedwig. Brought me something, have you?" Sirius untied the parchment from her leg and got up to let her out of the room. "You go on down to the kitchen. I'm sure someone will be there and give you a treat. Come back when you're finished and I'll send a letter for Harry along with you. There's a girl…" The owl pecked at his hair affectionately and swooped daintily down the staircase.
"Did I just see Hedwig?" Remus asked from the doorway, Ana in his arms.
Sirius nodded and waved the letter at him. "Do you remember how sometimes James would rush to write a letter home trying to explain why his mum and dad would shortly be getting a letter from Minnie about one of our mischievous misdeeds? I think Harry's just done the same thing." Unrolling the parchment, Sirius held it up for Remus to read over his shoulder. "Yes, that's just what this is…see here? Say's he read the spell in a book and didn't know what it would do. He's sure Draco is working on something for Voldemort and is terrified of failing him."
"Seems rather a light punishment, just detention with Severus," remarked Remus, pulling Ana back before she could grab a fistful of Sirius' hair. "And I can't imagine in which book he would have read about Sectumsempra. Severus invented that one. Remember the end of our sixth year? He and James had gotten into it, and he swung around and cast the curse on some Hufflepuff's toad, like he was taunting James with what he could do. I didn't know toads had that much blood in them," he added, making a face.
"Maybe he picked it up from one of Snape's memories when they were doing the Occlumency lessons?" said Sirius unconcernedly. "I was talking with James about how to handle it. I should say something about steering clear from dark spells, don't you think?"
"Perhaps you should suggest he practice unknown spells on toads first," suggested Remus dryly.
"Moony, do you think…I mean, this sort of happened because Harry's trying to keep an eye on Draco, isn't he? He's certain Draco's up to something, and doesn't think anyone's handling it. He could wind up in this same situation again if he keeps it up."
Remus sat down in the armchair by the window. He pulled a small blanket off the back of the chair and spread it out on the floor, laid Ana down on it and conjured a little flock of butterflies to flutter above her head like a mobile. She kicked and squealed delightedly, smiling at the shimmery colors. Remus watched her silently for a minute, before looking up at the painting of Harry and his parents. Harry wasn't much older than Ana in the painting. Back then he'd been cherished, protected, and it had all crashed down around him. Miraculous really, that Harry was as kind and good as he was. But he did have trouble trusting adults. He seemed to trust Sirius well enough, but Remus wasn't sure Harry really saw Sirius as an adult. Not surprising, perhaps, but it complicated things. He was such an amalgamation of his parents. That burning need to know things. To hunt down the truth and understand the puzzle pieces. That was Lily — determined and clever. But jumping into the thick of things and trying to protect everyone; not worrying so much about how to do something as knowing something had to be done. That was James — fierce and reckless.
Finally simply shaking his head a little helplessly at Sirius, Remus said, "I want to tell him that he needs to learn to take our advice once in a while and trust that the situation is being handled, even if it's not being handled the way he wants it. But I don't think he'd really listen to that. He'll be of age in a few months, and Merlin knows he's had plenty of experience getting out of tight spots. Maybe we need to trust him more."
Sirius sat down on the floor beside Ana, and tickled her, smiling at her little giggles. "Surely we'll get him for good this time…find those horcurxes and make certain he can never return. It can't keep going on endlessly, can it? Generations locked in a war against one man? If we've got Dumbledore and Harry and all of us working together… There shouldn't be any more children growing up without their parents because of him," he whispered.
Remus shivered at the thought. It was a war after all. No one was promised tomorrow.
This chapter is a little short, but it felt like the right place to end it. Thanks for reading!
